When Crossbow Meets Blade

Chapter 30

"Big Bro! What took you so long?! I was getting worried!" Chang'e screamed as she ran to hug her brother. Zilong smiled a sad smile.

"Seriously, I thought you bailed out on us last minute." Baxia said, shaking his head.

"Did something happen?" Chang'e asked.

Zilong opened his mouth to answer, but decided not to. He doesnt want his team to be troubled even before they started their mission.

"Someone unimportant just held me up. Thats all." Zilong said, shrugging. Baxia and Chang'e nodded, turning around to start searching.

Zilong replayed the scene that happened.

flashback

"F-Freya... come on. This isnt-"

"Hey! Do you actually think I'm one to joke about these things?! Theyre dead! The Dragon Tamers are dead!" Freya practically shouted, ignoring other people.

Zilong took a step back, shocked at how furious she was. She was serious. She was telling the truth.

Zilong noticed the portal about to close, panic rising inside of him.

With a stern voice, he turned to look at Freya. "I'm sorry. But I have important things to do now."

As he stepped into the portal, he heard mumbles and sniffling from behind. He turned around and right before he was fully sucked into the portal, he would never forget the look of betrayal in her eyes. The look of sadness. Anger. Disappointment. The tears falling down her face.

"I cant believe you..."

end flashback

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News about the Dragon Tamers have spread like a wildfire. People across the Land of Dawn talked about one another. Fear rising in them. Anxiety all around.

"What do we do now?"

"We're in danger..."

"I-I'm scared..."

Hushed voices rose among the people everywhere. Everyone knew about the failure of their mission. Some were depressed. Some angry. Some disappointed. Negative feelings all around.

"You've got to be kidding me! Kimmy wouldnt have pathetically lost like that!" Claude shouted, slamming his fist against the wall and scared Dexter.

"Claude, please calm down..." Irithel came up to him. Then, she heard sobs coming from behind her. Miya was on the ground, hand to mouth, desperately trying to muffle her cries.

"T-This cant b-be...! My b-brother!" That was enough to make her go on a full-on breakdown.

"Fuck! Masha was the bravest! I refuse to believe this!" Chou shouted, stomping all around while trying to hold back his tears.

Hanabi stood with her VENOM Team, who were now coming up with a plan for SABER. However, she paid no attention to the leader's words. She stared at the sobbing people, their hearts broken.

"Is this how it feels... to lose a loved one...?" Hanabi mumbled to herself. She was thinking of Wanwan, trying to figure out where she was. Especially at a time like this.

"How will she react... if she finds out Ling-"

"Oi, Nephila!" Harley's voice startled her, making her yelp in surprise.

"Youve been acting weird lately... anything wrong?" Gusion asked.

Hanabi only shook her head. "...No. Nothing. Please continue."

They continued with the meeting. This made Hanabi angry as to how theyre not paying attention to the obviously heartbroken people. Tears were forming at the eyes, though she quickly wiped them away before anyone could notice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

"I'm starting to doubt Harith's magic... Is this seriously the place she's at?" Baxia asked, walking in front of the other two.

"He's a smart kid. Pretty sure he cant mess up badly." Zilong said.

"Oh yeah. Like as if we're not lost in a dark and wet cavern!" Baxia said in a matter-of-factly matter, with a hint of sass in his voice.

Chang'e giggled at him. Baxia sighed and continued walking on. Chang'e's moon gave out a dim light, making a path for them to see ahead.

The sounds in the cavern were their footsteps, breathing and the sound of water dripping onto the ground. It echoed further, which was eerie.

Zilong noticed carvings on the walls. He stopped and stepped closer to the wall, trying to read it. Chang'e noticed and followed him, shining light onto the wall which made it better to read.

"Oh come on, what now?" Baxia asked, lazily making his way to Zilong. When he saw what Zilong was looking at, he gulped.

"Baxia? You can read this?" Zilong asked, pointing to the carvings. Chang'e stared at Baxia, waiting for an answer.

"I.. Yeah, kinda..."

"Oh? Well, translate it!" Zilong motioned with his hands.

Uncertainty rose in Baxia. He wanted to forget these symbols. He wanted to forget the person who wrote them. He wanted to forget everything.

"T-The person who wrote this... its..."

Zilong raised an eyebrow at him expectantly. Chang'e continued to stare in curiousity.

"It was.. Yu Zhong. And I can tell because he wrote exactly in this style."

Zilong flinched at the mention of the name. All of a sudden, the pieces started to get back together.

"W-wait... you dont mean..." Zilong stuttured, his voice quaking.

Baxia translated the carvings on the wall. "Cadia Riverlands would soon. Be. Mine."

Everyone started to get anxious. Chang'e was shivering, going to her brother for some comfort. Zilong and Baxia's eyebrows creased, trying not to burst of anger.

"Dont you tell me... Wanwan's.. with him?!" Zilong asked rather accusingly, scaring Chang'e slightly.

Further into the cavern, loud screaming could be hear. A blood-curdling scream, loud enough to almost rupture their eardrums. They covered their ears and closed their eyes, trying to block out as much noise as possible.

A bright red light started to shine from further into the cavern. It got brighter and brighter, making it so that no one could see anything.

When they opened their eyes, they realised they were in a different place.

"W-W-were we... teleported?" Chang'e stammered, clutching onto Zilong.

Before anyone could answer, slow clapping in front of them caught their attention. A woman with long, amethyst coloured hair clapping at them, a smile spread across her face. Behind her were two figures, one big and one small.

When their eyes finally adjusted from the bright light, they took a look at who they were up against.

Their eyes widened in shock at what they saw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amongst the river of panicking people, someone mysterious walks between them. People chattering about the Dragon Tamers did not notice the ever so calm person, who walked with his head down. No one noticed how he was limping, how his clothes were all torn, bruises on his body and blood dripping out.

No one noticed a warrior has survived.